Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) Shares Purchased by Versor Investments LP

Versor Investments LP raised its holdings in Griffon Co. (NYSE:GFF) by 114.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,457 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,057 shares during the quarter. Versor Investments LP’s holdings in Griffon were worth $604,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Griffon in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Picton Mahoney Asset Management purchased a new stake in Griffon during the second quarter worth about $55,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Griffon by 65.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 842 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Griffon in the first quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Sage Rock Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Griffon in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $98,000. 73.22% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $809,055.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,350. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Griffon news, Director Kevin F. Sullivan sold 12,447 shares of Griffon stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $809,055.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,390 shares in the company, valued at $3,275,350. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO W. Christopher Durborow sold 13,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.88, for a total value of $869,440.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,234,851.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 125,447 shares of company stock valued at $8,385,495 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 16.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GFF. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Griffon from $86.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut Griffon from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $80.33.

Griffon Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GFF opened at $62.86 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $65.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $67.67. Griffon Co. has a twelve month low of $38.33 and a twelve month high of $77.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.50, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.71. The company has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of 16.59 and a beta of 1.29.

Griffon (NYSE:GFF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The conglomerate reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $647.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $688.94 million. Griffon had a net margin of 7.27% and a return on equity of 96.05%. Griffon’s revenue was down 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Griffon Co. will post 4.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Griffon Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 28th will be paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 28th. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Griffon’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.83%.

About Griffon

Griffon Corporation, through its subsidiaries, provides consumer and professional, and home and building products in the United States, Europe, Canada, Australia, and internationally. The company operates through two segments: Home and Building Products, and Consumer and Professional Products. The Home and Building Products segment manufactures and markets residential and commercial sectional garage doors, rolling steel service doors, fire doors, shutters, steel security grilles, and room dividers for the use in commercial construction and repair, and home remodeling applications.